APR 18: SPFL FIRST SCORER TIPS & CONTEST

THE only online bookmaker listing first-scorer prices on all SPFL games are McBookie.com. It’s a great service they provide and we’ve teamed up with the Scots firm to look at some of the best bets from the Scottish lower leagues.

Also, leave a first-scorer prediction for any of the weekend SPFL matches at the end of this article to have a chance to win a £10 free bet with McBookie.com. Remember to quote odds. There was no competition last week.

Here is McBookie’s Damian Walker’s first-scorer tips for this weekend. He writes: Since losing 2-0 at Tynecastle Queen of the South have beaten Hibs, Rangers and Falkirk without conceding a single goal and scoring five themselves.

That run has virtually assured them fourth place and a spot in the Championship play-offs which Neil Doncaster has done such a great job of raising the profile of this week.

McBookie has some unpleasant looking ante-post slips with Queen of the South’s name on them to finish in the top four so plenty of punters won’t be caring what happens to them after May 2 or 3 if he has changed his mind again!

The Doonhamers have punched miles above their weight this season and with a handful of games to go are just five and six points behind Hibs and Rangers respectively.

With third-placed Falkirk away at Rangers for their next Championship game, Queens may just need a win over Alloa on Saturday for their play-off spot.

We’ve mentioned here before about Gavin Reilly and he has now scored 12 times from 28 starts this season which is no mean feat given who three of the teams are in this division (not Livi, Alloa and Cowdenbeath).

He’s scored nearly a quarter of their league goals and McBookie make him 5-1 to add to that tally with the game’s opener.
Stepping down into League One and Dick Campbell was awarded his second Manager of the Month award this season when he picked up the March gong last week.

His Forfar side followed up that award by grabbing the top spot in the table with a 2-0 win over Airdrie, their win sixth in seven games.

That run has included victories over the second, third, fourth and fifth in the table, so the Loons should have a great chance of another victory this weekend with a trip to Peterhead.

Forfar striker Gavin Swankie has been instrumental in much of this season’s success with his goals, especially with his winner in a 1-0 win over Stranraer last month, which could ultimately be the difference between the club going up as champions rather than getting involved in the lottery of the play-offs.

Swankie had a scoring record of 34 goals in 64 starts for his former club Arbroath and has an impressive 32 in 89 for Forfar and just a few more goals may see him plying his trade in the Championship next season.

McBookie make him 11-2 to score the opening goal of the game and take Forfar another step closer to the League One title.

A few weeks ago McBookie were quoting any number of clubs for a top-four finish but now it looks a straight fight between fourth-placed East Fife at 2-5 and 7-4 shots Elgin who sit fifth.

It’s hard to believe Elgin are still involved in this having endured a run of one win in 16 games from August to December.
But 10 wins later and they have a real chance of a play-off spot should East Fife slip.

The Black and Whites travel to bottom-placed Montrose and striker Craig Gunn, who has four goals in his last three games, obviously has a great chance to open the scoring at 11-2 with McBookie.